It is with this objective that a two-day international conference on intelligent cities is to be held in Makkah in January next year. The conference will be organised by the Makkah Municipality in association with the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj Research.
Mohammed Maqazi, head of the conference’s scientific committee, said that the transformation of Makkah into a world-class intelligent city will help address the needs of pilgrims from around the world. “The pilgrims need accommodation, meals, information and communication channels, and various modes of transportation.
A combination of the latest technologies that integrate fixed and wireless broadband networks, fixed and mobile GIS and GPS applications, and user-friendly information and communication points can greatly enhance the visitors experience, and the city’s objective of quality services to the visitors of the holy sites,” he explained.
He said discussions at the conference would include e-government, safety control systems and security applications, intelligent city management applications, and how to develop a large community of users with ICT skills.
While the availability of the needed broadband infrastructure is the central issue for the needed transformation, the conference will also address the need to improve services to residents.
There will be workshops on e-government services suite, GIS-based planning and management applications, mobile GIS emergency response applications, security, law enforcement and safety control applications.
The conference, which will be inaugurated by Makkah Governor Prince Khaled Al Faisal at Umm hAl Qura University’s King Abdul Aziz Historical Hall on January 19, will bring together a large number of experts from around the world to discuss the best ways to apply intelligent city concept to Makkah.
“This is the largest conference on intelligent cities to be held in the Kingdom,” said Makkah Mayor Osama Al Bar. “It aims at expediting the use of smart city technologies in Makkah for the benefit of the millions of pilgrims. ” Al Bar said. “It will make Makkah a model for other Muslim cities around the world,” he added. — This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Al Bar explained that this conference is an initiative to apply smart city technologies in the kingdom and transform it into a knowledge-based society and a digital economy.
He said that the presence of intelligent city facilities will speed up communication with the outside world and boost cultural, economic and commercial development, and added that the conference would discuss successful experiments in the field at national and international levels.
He said the conference would contribute to improving the services being rendered by various government departments in the city to both citizens and pilgrims.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Habid Shaikh
Quelle/Source: Khaleej Times, 20.09.2008
